chegwidden



R F. AND J. J. CHEGWHJDEN. REELING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JULY'IB, l9l9.

1,322,407. PatentedNov. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

ATZ'ORNEY.

R. F. AND J. J. CHEGWIDDEN. REELING DEVICE- APPLICATION FILED JULY 18,1919.

1 322,407. Patented N 0v. 18,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- ATTORNEY.

IN V EN TORS rotary adjustment.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT F. CHEGWIDDEN AND JOHN J. CHEGWIDDEN, OF VERONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

REELING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

Application filed July 18, 1919. Serial No. 311,878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ROBERT F. GHEGWID- DEN and JOHN J. CHEGWIDDEN, citizens of the United States, residing at Verona, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Reeling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to reeling means and more particularly to an apparatus by means of which a cable or electric cord may be readily reeled or unreeled.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide an apparatus or device of the character stated of simple construction and operation by means of which the light cord may be readily connected to a socket of standard construction without the necessity of providing special connecting members. A further object is to provide a device in which an intermediate portion of the light cord is transferred onto and off of two supplemental winding drums in accordance with rotation of a main winding drum associated therewith. Another object is to provide simple and efficient means for rotatlng the main winding drum in a winding direction, this means also serving to transfer the cord onto and off of the supplemental drums and to optionally secure the main winding drum in Further objects will appear from the detailed description.

In the drawings;

Figure 1 is a side view of a reeling device constructed in accordance with our inven tion.

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2'2 of Fig. 1.

Fi 3 is a side view taken from the opposite slde to Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a front View.

Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on line 55 of Fig. 4, partly broken away.

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on line 66 of Fig. 4.

In constructing the device we provide a substantially inverted U shaped bracket 1 which is adapted to be fixedly secured to a support 2 such as the ceiling of a garage or other structure. The depending arms 1 of bracket 1 rotatably support a shaft 3 upon which is rotatably mounted a main winding drum 4. This drum is connected to the shaft for rotation therewith in a man ner to be described.

The drum 4 carries an inner supplemental winding drum 5 which is secured to drum 4 for rotation-therewith and is not connected to the shaft. An outer supplemental windmg drum 6 is mounted adjacent the other end of the shaft from drum 4 and is held against rotation by a pin 7 which passes through one of the arms of bracket 1 and is secured to the drum. These three drums are disposed coaXially and are adapted to receive a cord or cable 8 wound thereon, this cable being wound in alternately opposite dlrections upon the drums. To permit the cable to be wound onto inner drum 5, the drum 4 is provided with a thimble 9 through which the cable or cord 8 is passed, this cord being passed inside of the drum and through a thimble 10 in the inner end of the drum, the cord being then wound upon the body of the supplemental drum 5 in a direction opposlte to its direction of winding upon the main drum. The cord is then passed over a grooved guide pulley 11 supported by a rod 12 secured to shaft 3, this pulley being so disposed as to permit the cord to readily wind onto and off of either one of the supplemental drums 5 and 6. The cord is then wound about the outer supplemental drum 6 in a direction opposite to its direction of winding upon drum 5, and is provided at one end with a plug 13 of known type by means of which the cord may be readily connected to a socket 14 secured to the support 2, for connecting a lamp at the other end of the cord to a source of supply of electricity.

The shaft 3 adjacent the main winding drum 4 is secured to the inner end 15 of a spirally wound spring 15, the outer end of this spring being secured about a pin 16 secured to the adjacent arm 1 of bracket 1. The spring 15 and shaft 3 are so related that, when the winding drum 4 is rotated in unwinding direction, the spring is coiled or wound up so as to tend to rotate the shaft in the opposite direction. During unwinding of the cord 8 from the main drum, the intermediate portion of this cord will be unwound from the outer supplemental drum 6 and will pass over the guide pulley 11, being wound onto the inner drum 5. As the cord is passed over pulley 11, the pulley is subjected to a constant pressure which causes rotation of the shaft with drum 4. To facilitate this rotation of the shaft, the pulley is disposed substantially tagentially of the drums 5 and 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

This disposition of the pulley also serves to effectually prevent cutting or rubbing of the insulationtof the cord. To permit the portion of the cord which passes over the pulley to be maintained at proper tension, the rod 12 is provided on its inner end with a screw head 12, and this rod is threaded through an enlarged portion 3 of shaft 3, being located between the two supplemental winding drums. A lock nut 17 is screwed upon rod 12 and serves to secure the same in longitudinal adjustment. The pulley 11 is mounted upon a stub shaft 18 carried by a block 19 which may be adjusted longitudi nally of rod 12 by upper and lower adjusting nuts 20 and 21, respectively. This block carries a guard member 22 which extends upwardly over the pulley and serves to effectually prevent accidental displacement of the cord therefrom.

A ratchet wheel 23 is secured on shaft 3 adacent drum 6 and is engaged by a gravity pawl 24: mounted upon the adjacent arm 1 of bracket 1. The pawl and ratchet are so related as to permit free rotation of shaft 3 in an unwinding direction, the pawl being adapted to engage the ratchet for securing the shaft in rotary adjustment in the known manner.

As will be noted, the supplemental winding drums 5 and 6 are of small diameter relative to the main winding drum, so that by winding a slight amount of cord upon these supplemental drums, a relatively great amount or length of cord may be wound upon the main drum. This provides a very simple arrangement of reeling apparatus by means of which the provision of specially constructed contacts or brushes for connecting the cord to an electric circuit are eliminated and renders it possible to connect the cord in the event that it is necessary or desired to remove or replace the cord, this may be readily effected without disassembling the reeling device.v

As the shaft 3 is of relatively very small diameter, and the inner end of the winding spring 15 is secured to this shaft, but slight coiling or uncoiling of the spring, as the case may be, will occur for each complete rotation of the main winding drum. This renders it possible to use a comparatively short spring thus materially reducing the cost of production while producing an. apparatus which is compact and of neat appearance, and in which the spring may be readily housed within one end of the drum without in anyway interfering with rotation thereof.

To prevent injury to the insulation of the cord when unreeling or reeling the same, we provide a specially constructed guide clevice of anti friction type. A substantially U shaped hanger 25 depends from shaft 3 outside of the supporting bracket 1. This hanger carries at its lower end a rectangular frame 26 which is positioned in alinement with the drum 4-. This frame is provided with two upper and two lower antifriction rollers 27 mounted therein and disposed at right angles. lVhen the cord 8 is being wound onto or off of drum lf, it is led through these rollers, as in Fig. 6, which rotate and serve to effectually prevent rub bing or wearing of the cord. As the frame is supported by hanger 25 so as to swing freely in either direction about shaft 3, and the upper rollers 27 project inwardly beyond the end flanges of drum 4c, the cord may be led from drum 4 in any desired direction without any danger of cutting or injury to this cord. This: permits the device to be tightly secured to any suitable support so as to prevent swinging or swaying thereof and consequent injury to the light cord such as frequently occurs where a loose or swivel support is provided for the reel.

It may be found by experience desirable to make slight changes in the construction and arrangement-of the details of our device, and we intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, in this application in which a preferred form only of our invention is. disclosed.

W hat we claim is:

1. In reeling means, drum, and two drums, one of a main \\-'inding supplemental winding said supplemental drums being connected to the main drum for rotation therewith and the other suppleniental. drum being, stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in alternately opposite directions whereby upon rotation of said main winding drum the cord will be wound oil of one of said supplemental drums onto the other supplem ental drum.

2. In reeling means, a main winding drum, two supplemental winding drums, one of said supplemental drums being connected to the main drum for rotation therewith and the other supplemental drum being stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in alternately opposite directions, and means for rotating said. main winding drum in winding direction and for transferring the cord from one supplemental winding drum to the other supplemental winding drum during rotation of the main drum and for rotating said main drum in winding direction.

3. In reeling means, a main winding drum, two supplemental winding drums, one of said supplemental drums being connected to the main drum for rotation there with and: the other supplemental drum being stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in alternately opposite directions, and means for rotating said main winding drum in winding direction and for transferring the cord from one supplemental winding drum to the other supplemental winding drum during rotation of the main drum and for rotating said main drum in winding direction, and optionally securing itin rotary adjustment,

4. In reeling means, a main winding drum, two supplemental winding drums, one of said supplemental drums being connected to the main drum for rotation therewith and the other supplemental drum being stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in alternately opposite directions, a guide member engaging the cord between the supplemental winding drums, all of said drums being disposed coaxially and the guide member being mounted for rotation about the Common axis of the drums, and means for rotating the guide member in such direction as to cause rotation of the main winding drum in winding direction.

- 5. In reeling means, a main winding drum, two supplemental winding drums, one of said supplemental drums being connected to the main drum for rotation therewith and the other supplemental drum being stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in alternately opposite directions, a guide member engagin g the cord between the supplemental winding drums, all of said drums being disposed coaXially and the guide member being mounted for rotation about the common axis of the drums, and means for rotating the guide member in such direction as to cause rotation of the main winding drum in winding direction, and for optionally securing said guide member in rotary adjustment.

6. In reeling means, a main winding drum, two supplemental winding drums disposed coaXially therewith, one of said supplemental drums being connected to the main drum for rotation therewith and the other supplemental drum being stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in alternately opposite directions, a guide member mounted for engagement with the cord intermediate the two supplemental drums, said guide member being rotatble about the common axis of the drums, means for adjusting the guide member toward and away from said axis for tensioning the intermediate portion of the cord, and means for rotating the guide member in such direction as to cause rotation of the main winding drum in winding direction.

7. In reeling means, a rotary shaft, a main winding'drum rotatable on said shaft, two supplemental winding drums mounted on the shaft one of said supplemental drums being connected to the main winding drum for rotation therewith and the other supplemental drum being stationary, all of said drums being adapted to receive a cord wound thereon in such manner as to permit rotation of the main drum in either direction and cause the cord to be wound off of or onto one of the supplemental drums onto the other supplemental drum during rotation of said main drum, a guide member carried by said shaft and positioned to engage the cord between said supplemental driuns and transfer it from one of said drums onto the other drum, and means for rotating said shaft in such direction as to rotate the main drum in winding direction through the medium of said guide member and the cord.

8. In reeling means, a rotary shaft, a main winding drum loose on said shaft, two supplemental winding drums, one of said supplemental winding drums being connected to the main drum for rotation therewith and the other supplemental drum being stationary, a cord wound upon all of the drums in alternately opposite directions, a guide member positioned to engage the cord between the supplemental winding drums so as to maintain it under constant tension, said guide member being connected to the shaft so as to cause rotation thereof in accordance with rotation of the main drum, when said drum is rotated in unwinding direction, and means for rotating the shaft and the guide member in such direction as to cause rotation of the main drum in winding direction.

9. In reeling means, a rotary shaft, a main winding drum loose on said shaft, two supplemental winding drums mounted on the shaft, the inner one of said supplemental drums being secured to the main drum for rotation therewith and the outer supplemental drum being stationary, a cord wound upon all of said drums in alternately opposite directions, a guide member supported by the shaft between the supplemental winding drums, the cord being passed over said guide member so as to be tensioned thereby, a spring having its outer end fixed and its inner end secured to said shaft so as to be wound by rotation thereof when the main drum is rotated in unwinding direction, said spring serving to rotate said drum when released in winding direction.

10. In reeling means, a rotary shaft, a main winding drum loose on said shaft, two supplemental winding drums mounted on the shaft, the inner one of said supplemental drums being secured to the main drum for rotation therewith and the outer supplemental drum being stationary, a cord wound upon all of said drums in alternately opposite directions, a guide member supported by the shaft between the supplemental winding drums, the cord being passed over said guide member so as to be tensioned thereby, a spring having its outer end fixed and its inner end secured to said shaft so as to be Wound by rotation thereof when the main drum is rotated in unwinding direction, said spring serving to rotate said drum when released in windingdirection, and means for optionally locking the shaft against rotation in Winding direction While permitting free rotation of'the shaft in unwinding direction.

11. In reeling means, a shaft, a drum mounted thereon, 'means for rotating the drum in Winding direction, a frame supported in alineinent with said drum radially thereof and mounted for free movement about the shaft, and a plurality of anti-friction guide members supported by said frame and adapted to receive between them a cord Wound upon the drum, said guide members preventing rubbing or cutting of said cord.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures.

ROBERT F. CHEGXVIDDEN. J 0H3 J CHE-GVIDDEN. 

